2025 Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid: What's It Like to Live With?

• We added a 2025 Toyota Grand Highlander to our One-Year Road Test fleet.
• The plan is to put 20,000 miles on it over the course of the next 12 months.
• How will it stack up against new rivals? How is it on road trips? Is it efficient? We'll learn all this and more.

What did we get?

Our Grand Highlander is the second-priciest version you can buy, a Limited trim with the Hybrid Max powertrain. The Limited is likely going to be the sweet spot for those who want the best mix of features and comfort — it feels far more premium than the XLE without losing out much in the way of niceties to the top-spec Platinum model.

Most important, though, is that aforementioned hybrid setup. In the Grand Highlander, it combines a turbocharged four-cylinder engine with a single electric motor for a hearty 362 horsepower with all-wheel drive. Toyota says the Hybrid Max powertrain is tuned more for performance, but it still returns an EPA-estimated 27 mpg combined. That's pretty impressive for something that tipped our scales at 4,891 pounds.

Limited trims also come with a 12.3-inch infotainment display, an 11-speaker JBL sound system, heated and ventilated leather front seats, heated second-row seats, a wireless charger and a heated steering wheel at no extra cost. Toyota adds its Safety Sense 3.0 system to all Grand Highlanders as standard. The system includes automatic emergency braking, a blind-spot warning system, rear cross-traffic alert, front/rear parking assist and more. 

The only optional extras added to our Grand Highlander are a panoramic rearview camera for $600 and all-weather floor mats for $378. All in, the Slate Blue family hauler you see here costs $57,163, including the $1,495 destination charge.

While we often buy the vehicles for our One-Year Road Test fleet, Toyota loaned us this vehicle for the purposes of evaluation.

Why did we get it?

Frankly, Americans can't stop buying SUVs, and the Grand Highlander is destined to be a hit with families who need something spacious, efficient and practical. Not only that, but given how many of our staffers have children — and how frequently someone takes the keys to a member of our fleet for a road trip — our garage ends up being the perfect testing ground for this very type of crossover. 

Plus, it comes at the right time. This year is seemingly the start of an all-new generation of large SUVs from mainstream automakers. The new Hyundai Palisade just hit dealer lots and an all-new Kia Telluride is coming soon. We'll have to see how well our new inductee fares against a heap of new stiffer-than-ever competition and whether it can keep its Edmunds Top Rated crown. 

Over the next 20,000 miles, we'll log fuel economy and maintenance, what it's like to put car seats in, how many people it holds comfortably, what it's like on road trips, and plenty more.  

Photos by Keith Buglewicz